Jonah Hex: Two-Gun Mojo

Two-Gun Mojo is a five-issue Jonah Hex storyline published by the Vertigo Comics imprint. Following the conclusion to Hex, a series that placed him into a post-apocalyptic future, this was the first Jonah Hex project in five years and returned him to

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Synopsis

Two-Gun Mojo is a five-issue Jonah Hex storyline published by the Vertigo Comics imprint. Following the conclusion to Hex, a series that placed him into a post-apocalyptic future, this was the first Jonah Hex project in five years and returned him to his Western roots. Because of its Vertigo publication, an imprint usually associated with dark fantasy, the series deals with the Western-Horror genre and uses zombies as the antagonists. This creative team would go on to write the next Hex series, Riders of the Worm and Such.

Synopsis

Jonah Hex is rescued from a lynching at the hands of outlaws by another bounty hunter named Slow Go Smith, and the two men develop an easy friendship. Riding into town to collect on the reward, they're forced to stay overnight in a hotel while the Sheriff files his paperwork. Smith sleeps in the barn, where he is attacked by a moving corpse that doesn't respond to bullets.[1] The creature murders him, and Jonah arrives to late to save his friend. He's framed for the murder while the villains controlling the zombies escape. They decide to hang him, and the whole town prepares for the big execution, but an unnamed Native American woman rescues him from jail and is shot dead in the escape.[2] Hex tracks down the villain as Doc "Cross" Williams, a Snake Oil merchant with a trio of freaks who's managed to resurrect and control Wild Bill Hickok. They capture Jonah with the intention of making him a zombie too.[3] Cross Williams explains that he studied the art of voodoo in Haiti to reanimate corpses, and he stole Hickok's body shortly after his murder at the hands of Jack McCall in Deadwood. Hex escapes and goes on the run for awhile because he's still wanted for Smith's murder, but eventually tracks Williams down again. He meets him while battling against Apaches, and finds that Cross has assembled a military escort.[4] Jonah teams up with the soldiers to fight off the Indians, but the Doc escapes in the chaos. They are pursued by savages, and Jonah hunts him down across many miles until he finds him alone in the desert. His zombies worn down into nothing except Hickok, Jonah Hex defeats the Western legend by beating him in a draw and shooting his eyes out. Rather than kill the Doc himself, he shoots him in both kneecaps and leaves him to die a long slow death at the hands of the Apaches. His friend's death avenged, Jonah Hex returns to his normal life.[5]